Butte, Mont. – The Orediggers held off a late Rams charge defeating the University of Mobile 64-57 Sunday afternoon.
Montana Tech (8-4) closes out their non-conference schedule.

University of Mobile (6-5) goes 1-1 on their Montana visit. Mobile defeated winless Carroll College last night.

The Orediggers opened the game with a 15-2 run. Junior guard Bryan Bock was hot early scoring 9 of the first 10 points.

Tech would expand their lead to 28-6 points with 7:57 to go in the half.

The Rams came alive towards the end of the frame working their way back into the game on a 20-8 scoring differential for the last seven minutes.

The Oredigger lead was cut to 37-26 at the break.

Bock and Adam Greger both had 11 in the first half. The team shot 51.9-percent from the field and hit 4 of 10 from beyond the arc.

The Orediggers outrebounded the Rams 21-13

Mobile's had a hard time finding the basket with their slow start. The Rams shot 36.7-percent from the field. They completed just 3 of 12 from three-point range.

The second half was steady play by both teams. The Orediggers sustained a ten point lead for most of the half.

The Rams made a quick last minute effort using a full court press at the end of the game. With less than 30 seconds to play, guard TJ Simon stole the inbound pass and a score bringing their deficit to 63-55. The Rams' Cole Fountain grabbed the rebound on the missed free throw and scored again. Tech led 63-57 with just 17 seconds to play.

Bock would take the inbound pass and a foul. The guard would sink one from the line and the Orediggers would keep the Rams from scoring again for a 64-57 final score.

Greger finished the game with 19 points and six rebounds. He shot 50-percent from the field and 2 of 5 from three.

Bock had 16 points, two assists and two steals.

Brandon Rydberg had eight boards and four points.

Chris Richardson led the Rams with 11 points.

Fountain had 10 points and 10 rebounds.  

Montana Tech is on the road next weekend. They start their conference schedule in Lewiston, Idaho against Lewis-Clark State Warriors.